The country has seen numerous cases of illegally dumped asbestos waste rise in the last few months so we asked ourselves, ‘why is it happening so often?’.
The first case was on a busy road in Nottinghamshire, where bags of ‘extremely dangerous’ asbestos were found. A significant number of bags were fly-tipped along a four-mile stretch of Ollerton Road (B6034) on 24th May 2019. After examination, advise from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) concluded that road should be closed until the asbestos is removed by a specialist contractor.
Click here to read the full story
The second case found asbestos dumped on a Newmarket Street, which left taxpayers a bill of more than £650 to clear up. A one tonne bag of asbestos boards was found by West Suffolk Council’s inspectors on the pavement, dumped outside homes.
Click here to read the full story
Another case saw in excess of 20 corrugated roofing sheets dumped in a Malvern Hills car park. This landed the Malvern Hills Trust with a bill of £1000 in removal costs.
Click here to read the full story
What is fly tipping?
Fly tipping is defined as the ‘illegal deposit of any waste onto land that does not have a licence to accept it’.
Why is it happening?
There are many causes of fly-tipping, as are the motivations of the perpetrators, although financial gain or financial saving is clearly a principal reason in the majority of cases.
However, lack of waste disposal facilities or access to them, laziness and an attitude that someone else will clear up the waste, all have a big part to play.
Fly tipping – advice for land owners
Land managers, occupiers or owners of private property are responsible for clearing and disposing of any fly tipping found on private land. Local councils will not normally clear rubbish dumped on private land free of charge, but they may investigate such incidents and where appropriate take enforcement action.
The Environment Agency investigates the larger (more than a tipper load), organised (linked to criminal business practices), or hazardous (waste over 75L which have the potential to damage the environment) incidents of illegal dumping on public land.
Regardless of whether fly tipping is found on public or private land, you should always report it to the relevant authority – it may be that the culprit can be found or linked to other incidents.
Fly tipping – advice for house holders and businesses
All householders have a legal ‘duty of care’ to ensure that waste is only given to people who are registered waste carriers.
Do you need help with your asbestos removal? Contact us on 0207 264 1010 to find out more
